What surprised me about the video Period. End of Sentence. was how taboo periods are for India. They laugh or giggle when speaking about their menstruation. I also find it shocking what women have to use for replacement of a pad which is just sad and honestly something no women should experience. Every women should have access to sanitary feminine products. I also found it shocking the rules that men/elderly places on periods and the lack of privacy they have when changing or talking about this topic. The fact women aren’t allowed in the temples because being on their period means they are dirty angers me because periods should not be seen as something dirty or taboo but should be seen as something beautiful because of its role in our beautiful bodies. Also , just the fact they didn’t know to use a pad actually shocked me. For the next readings ” A Birth Story ” & ” 12 Reasons It Should Be Illegal for Doctors Not to Treat Trans People ” , I wasn’t really shocked because medical malpractice and medical discrimination happens so often that its just sad that the government and news don’t talk about it enough. It’s depressing that it kind of just became something you get used too.
The similarities I found in the film and the texts were how Women are conditioned to try to be okay with things that are messed up in the system. In the film it is how women should be okay with not having sanitary pads available to them. How they should be ok with men not giving them privacy or be ok with getting rules placed on them. In the texts it feels like you’re kind of just forced to be ok with things. ” A Birth Story ” the doctors and nurses ignored her many times making her feel dismissed and disrespected. While in the other text , yeah you can send these letters but theirs still a chance of “what if they don’t listen?”. So it just feels like you’re hopeless.
The provided texts and films of this week provided me a deeper understanding of how medical oppression can affect everyone. You can be in the face of death but some people will think you’re exaggerating or because you are a specific skin color you can handle more pain. I feel like medical oppression can also go beyond gender and colors but even just things like weight. I had mentioned a few weeks back about how I face medical oppression all the time because of my weight. I am a plus size woman. Many times i’ve needed to get lab done , many nurses find my veins very quickly but other nurses have blamed me for them hurting my veins when doing lab ; all nurses telling me how “lose weight and no one would have to hurt you”. Even having doctors that ask for labs to be ran on me THREE times “just to make sure” when they get the results and see i’m perfectly healthy.
Hi Melanie, I agree with what you are saying, no women should have to experience that kind of lifestyle. They are treated like dirty people because of something they have no control over and that is not right. I also thing its outragous that these women just have to accept the circumstances. This shows that being a women is endless oppression. I enjoyed your dicsussion borad and agreed with you as well.
Hi Melanie, I agree with the oppression of people of more considerable weight. I’ve seen it firsthand when working in a medical office. I would hear some nurses and medical assistants be very rude and say things like they would look better if they lost weight or it would be medical easier for them. And I agree as well that women should be treated with dignity. I felt for those girls that said they dropped out of school for something so simple as a period. I also had a bad experience when giving birth; one of my assigned nurses did not want to clean my room and would say I was a dirty person for not cleaning after myself. Although I physically couldn’t, it was definitely a horrible experience.
Hi Melanie, I could say that these stories had an impact on my life, and I felt many mixed emotions. I completely agree with the idea that women should be treated with respect and that gender equality exists. In our society it is a bit difficult to find respect, prejudices are usually stronger but the rights of life must always be present regardless of skin color, culture, ethnicity, your physical appearance.
You are absolutely correct that weight is a factor in medical oppression. A huge one. Ragen Chastain and Aubrey Gordon have written about this (google them – they are awesome). I would say mental health history is another factor in medical oppression too. Thanks for bringing this up!
Hi Melanie,
You’re absolutely right about how medical oppression is so normalized. One of my friends has a condition which requires her to get treated every other week. A few months ago, she was described a different medicine than what she normally took. She couldn’t speak for a few days after taking it and thought it would pass in a few days, but it only got worse. When she shared her concerns with the doctors, they dismissed her and she couldn’t even get an appointment. After she threatened to take legal action, they finally checked up on her and turns out she was allergic to the medicine. It’s insane how common such stories are.